Taste of Love
by Velvet.Red.Rose
Summary: This is a romance story of KakashiXOC. This stranger happened to be Gaara's sensei and interrupted the chuunin exam. Kakashi is confused. Will they meet again? and how? Please read it and enjoy. It's a heart-warming story of 2 prejudice people who won't settle for the other. There's romance, a lot of teasing and humor. Rated T for now ;)
1. First Encounter

Anime/Manga » Naruto » **Taste of Love**

Author: .Rose

Rated: T - English - Romance/Humor - Reviews: 1 - Published: 09-16-10 - Updated: 11-02-10

id:6328257

**Chapter 1: First Encounter.**

This is the revised version of previous chapters. I hope you like this better. Tell me what you think.

_**Disclaimer**_: Naruto is a property of Kishimoto Masashi.

She was watching with great anxiety. The pink-haired kunoichi held her hands together. She tightened her grip as Sasuke hardly dodged a sand blow from Gaara. Yes, it was a very stressful event for the rookies; Ino almost made the man in front of her deaf; screaming "Look out, Sasuke-kun!" every split second, a concerned look on Shikimaru's face, Naruto was confidant yet worried and Choji uncontrollably already ate a dozen bags of potato chips.

Even though Sasuke showed himself as a matching opponent to Gaara of the desert, yet Sakura was extremely worried. No one would blame her, everyone was talking about Lee's fight with Gaara and his future as a ninja was considered as already crushed, just like his leg. Her heart beat increased considerably and blood pounded in her ears that she couldn't hear the cheering of the audience. She sucked air in her lungs forcefully that she worried that someone would hear her. She startled a bit when a hand was gently placed on her shoulder, she lifted her face up and looked at her sensei with wide-opened eyes. The crease beside his eye deepened as his eye arched gesturing an assuring smile and said: "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. I trained with him till the last minute. I'm sure he'll win this match." She paused a little then smiled back to her sensei, "Uhn, I'm sure of it." She turned her head back to watch the fight smiling, then circled her palms around her mouth and shouted really loud: "Go for it, Sasuke-kun!" Ino looked at her angrily: "Hey wide-forehead, don't cheer for _my_ Sasuke-kun! And what's with that loud voice? Be considerate to other people, will you? Tche."

"Why you little Ino pi-"

"What is that?" said Naruto.

They were looking at sand sphere on the ground. "Where's Gaara?"

"Inside the sphere thing" answered Shikimaru.

Sasuke tried his fire techniques to throwing kunais but failed to penetrate it.

"What is he gonna do? It seems he can't make a crack in it." Said Lee who joined a while ago. Sasuke dashed to the edge of the stadium and made a couple of hand signs. A loud thunder sound was vibrating as lightning emerged from his palm. He ran towards the sand sphere in a blast. He was successful this time and made a hole into that sphere. "What. was. that?" asked Sakura.

"It-It can't be… you taught him the chidori, didn't you Kakashi?" Guy asked Kakashi unbelievably, who to the silver-haired Jounin dismay lingered at the first syllable of his name, but Kakashi just ignored him.

"Chidori?"

"Yes. It's Ka-kashi's first genuine technique. It means 'flapping thousand birds', that's the reason for its loud thunder-like sound." Guy's voice was almost audible through the outrageous cheering of the audience.

"Amazing! It really passed through the sphere."

"Look! Sasuke's gonna do it again."

He backed away a few feet and made the same hand signs again. He dashed with his full speed.

Suddenly, a black-haired woman tying it up in a loose bun, stood right between Sasuke and Gaara's ultimate defense. She was holding his wrest and in one move she cracked it, disabling his chidori. The audience went silent hoping to hear anything if either of them spoke. As Sasuke was grumbling on his knees, she deactivated the ultimate defense surrounding Gaara, and grabbed the semi-unconscious Gaara to her side.

"What is she doing?" questioned Naruto.

"I don't have any idea. But I hope she doesn't use that katana on her back," said Guy.

The honey color-haired referee approached her, "What are you doing? This is an official match."

"My apologies, but this match is over. It is over now by me stepping on this ground," Kakashi was there next to her in a flash. She turned her face to address the Hokage "Hokage-sama, my apologies again. I'm Kimiko, a special Jounin of the Suna Village and I'm the Suna's team sensei," She showed a Sand head-protector on her upper arm, "I was on a long mission so they assigned a temporary sensei to accompany the team. So I'm here now and I have to end this match and turn back to Suna immediately."

"How can this be possible?" Sasuke argued.

"Sasuke, be quite," ordered Kakashi, "I'm sorry, Miss, but I think this is illegal and if you really want to quit this match and flee to your village, I think you need to vindicate more." She gave a quick smirk as she kept her face straight ahead.

"What's this rampage?" said the Kazekage furiously, "Do you intend to ruin our chance of winning? And what the kid would think after you ruin his opportunity in an easy victory?"

"Stay out of this," she adjusted Gaara on her shoulder to be more comfortable to carry, "and please, leave Gaara out of _this_. I'm taking my leave." Kakashi raised his eye brows in surprise. _Interesting. A rebellion? Or is she in that hurry to get out of here? Even so, I don't like the way she is speaking._

The audience raged and pleaded, and a rain of protests poured,

"Don't let her go!"

"Arrest her!"

"We paid to watch this match and you're ending it this way? Return our money back, you thieves!'

"Yeah."

"Baki! Take the kids and retreat. Now!" The woman literally barked at her comrade.

The teacher in beige hesitated for a moment, but he ignored threaten glares of the Kazekage and obeyed her.

"My deepest apologies, Hokage-sama," She bowed very elegantly as black threads of her hair slid over her shoulder, she raised her head and looked the old man in the eye and said, "I'm taking my leave."

In a blink of an eye she left. Everyone was just watching, dazed. Sasuke was about to follow her when Kakashi stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"After her, obviously."

"That's not your job to do so."

Sasuke clicked his tongue and dashed after her. Unexpectedly, fights began among the audience. Kakashi squinted at the crowd, "What the hell? Suna is attacking?"

Sasuke was already chasing the mysterious woman and now the Leaf is under attack. "What a pain!" and he dashed after him.

Kakashi had finally caught up to Sasuke. They were already outside of the village in a very short time. Apparently Sasuke's determination to finish the fight and to boost his ego motivated him that he was almost keeping up to her. Kakashi noticed the woman elasticity and flexibility, she moved at great speed with about 40 kilos or so- unconscious- on her back. Her legs didn't waver underneath her. She's not a joke; she's really a special Jounin, highly skillful in a matter of fact.

Kakashi sensed several chakara's approaching from inside the forest surrounding the village. Soon, Some ANBUs and Suna Jounins joined the hunt. _And have I glanced some Sounds too?! The situation is getting more and more complicated. _Kakashi was drawn from his thoughts as the woman named Komiko said in an even voice: "Hey, Uchiha brat! Why are you on my tail? You're not moving in to Suna, are you? And you brought handsome ANBUs with you, too."

He was visibly irritated by now. "Don't play dumb, you know what I want!" he yelled at her.

She snickered, "Nah, I'm not interested in young, dumb bratty kids."

"Don't you eve-"

He was cut by her, "You really want to fight Gaara?" her cold even voice send shivers along their spines, yes all of them, "then learn how to breath first. He's stronger and skilled more than you in at least 10 years. And you still want to fight him in your pity state? Go back to you village, it's better for you."

They all moved like a flash hopping from a tree to another, of course silence accompanying them. _She was right; Sasuke can't keep his breath even and lost some deal of chakra for chidori. In addition, he was training 'till the last minute._ Baki and the other siblings who obeyed her order were coming into view, Konoha was catching up quickly to Suna's group.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash roaring through the distance. Kakashi glanced backwards at the village's direction, and saw a black heavy smoke in the sky. _This doesn't seem good_. _I have to figure her out._

"What do you think is happening there, senpai?" Some of the ANBUs asked Kakashi. He continued to watch the black-haired woman jumping swiftly, his brows furrowed.

"Are you breaking the truce? Are you involved in what's happening in Konoha?" Kakashi asked with comparable even tone.

She remained silent for a while. _Does that mean they're really attacking?_

"Baki, do a long teleportation jutsu to Suna with Temari and Kankuro. I'll be joining you in a minute."

He kept looking at her in disbelief, "Are you sure?"

_They seem not on good terms with each other but he's quite the obedient._ His observing thoughts were cut by her stern and commanding tone: "This is an order. Am. I. understood?"

"Roger that" he quickly answered.

After their disappearance, she stopped dead in her tracks. Everyone copied her, taking their fighting stances. The three ANBU members circled her like predators waiting for an opening; the other 3 were covering Konoha's ninjas backs from the Sunas and Sounds. The atmosphere was getting thicker with anticipation, everyone was waiting the other to make a move. She readjusted Gaara on her back and turned to face the masked Jounin.

"My team and I are not involved in this situation. You can see that by us leaving your village. And believe me, if I want to fight, you wouldn't stand a chance to me… maybe you Hatake would last a couple of minutes." He raised an eye brow, _what sheer confidence. But minutes? That's way underestimating me or is she someone who wants to do suicide by a ninja._

Another explosion was heard. The silver-haired Jounin didn't feel comfortable; he had this uneasy gut feeling. "I told you to go back earlier but you wouldn't listen." Her face was emotionless like a rock. He looked at the ANBUs over his shoulder; apparently they had the same eerie feeling.

"Now, put Gaara down and let us finish the fig-" Hastly, Sasuke demanded but was cut off by Kakashi.

"Enough, Sasuke. This is not the time to fight. You should've known that before," sternly he said, "But I also followed to have some answers."

"I'm gonna tell you your words 'this is not the time for answers, you should've known before,' now excuse me, I'm in a hurry." She was about to turn her back to carry on with her journey but she saw the keenness in masked man's eyes to know. "In other words for you to understand, Uchiha, Gaara isn't fighting you because there're important things to do better than fighting a weakling like you, and Hatake-san, don't you think spending every second defending your village when it's the most time it needs you worth than I giving you answers which I might give?"

A deep frown was carved in his forehead. He absolutely didn't like the way she talked. "Do you have any more orders?" he talked back cynically, "Aren't you fleeing with your comrades too? Or are they the comrades of Sound? I don't see them on guard from Sound ninjas." The woman frowned in response, "Or are you fleeing from them? They seem to me they want Gaara. Is he with them too? Having said that, you carrying him and escaping doesn't change the fact that you are envolved in a conspiracy against Konoha."

The petite woman eyed him with extreme irritation shown on her face. But what was shown in her was something that confused the accusing man. "There are things you don't understand and I don't have the time explaining them to you." She spoke.

"You can go now; we'll deal with this situation. Just remember to justify your actions as soon as possible to Hokage-sama." Kakashi spoke sternly. Sasuke looked as if to object to Kakashi's permission as Kakashi processed quickly his priorities. He spoke calmly addressing Sasuke, "We were already heading back. Our village is under attack from two villages," he looked at Sasuke, "You saw the Sound, right? We need to keep going and get you to a safe place. Whenever the Sounds appear, Orochimaru must be close by."

Sasuke hesitated to leave. Yes, he was a hell of a stubborn guy. _Deadly _stubborn.

Both Konoha ninjas gaped and were mesmerized. Kakashi tried fixing the situation as he was faster to recover; "We're leaving" he hastily commanded his comrades. "Good. Good luck." She smiled and bowed lightly and vanished after performing a couple of one-hand signs.

The silver-haired Jounin inhaled deeply while the younger ninja gulped.

"Sensei," Sasuke caught his sensei's attention, "Did you…?" still staring at the spot she was standing a moment ago. "Yes" answered his sensei, "now, we better get going."

Sasuke slowly nodded and followed his sensei, all ninjas running faster than the wind to reach the village. Kakashi and Sasuke were behind the group as they were the closest to the mysterious woman. Sasuke softly spoke, or rather dejectedly, "I guess you are the best to know about those matters," he came near the confused masked Jounin, "Were .. were there any survivors of the Uchiha clan reported?"

Kakashi looked at him from the corner of his eyes. The boy acted tough, but he'd crack any minute.

"No, there wasn't," he answered.

There was a silence for a moment. "I thought there are 3 persons in this world who has _it_." Sasuke pushed.

"I know what you're saying. I don't know what was that… but I'm pretty sure it was _the_ sharingan," the boy seemed kind of satisfied with his sensei's answer, "Now stay focused. Konoha needs you."

Sasuke glanced at his sensei, the latter showed a crease around his eye and both dashed off faster towards the dear village.


	2. Gardenia Flower

**Chapter 2: Gardenia Flower.**

_Disclaimer_: Naruto is a property of Kishimoto Masashi.

He raised his head admiring the bright blue sky. He exhaled a small sigh; _it feels right to have a cat nap._He continued hopping swiftly from a branch to another, _guess I have to report in first._

The giant gates of Konoha appeared behind the thick branches and deep green leaves. Kakashi landed on the ground and walked casually. He brought his precious orange book and opened a dog-eared page. He walked at a slow pace to ease his cramping leg. He completed the checking in process.

- "Welcome, Kakashi-san" Kotetsu greeted.

- "Yeah, it's great to see you come back in one piece." Izumo spoke with a sheepish smile.

- "It was a piece of cake, and that's not new for me, Izumo. I'm done here?"

- "Yes." Kotetsu stamped the paper in front of him and smiled.

Kakashi muttered an "arigato"

- "Oh by the way, I'm checking out in a half an hour; I have something to do outside the village," and bowed out of courtesy and walked in his way.

He shifted his weight from one leg to another as he regarded the Hokage's building lazily, up and down. _I think I should puff at the door._And he did. He tapped the door three times, and walked in as he heard a grunt from the Fifth.

- "Good morning, Hokage-sama."

- "Morning," she raised her head from the pile of papers she was signing, "Reporting in? Well, that's something new."

- "Yes," he handed her the scroll, "Their hideout was a bit difficult to find, especially because the waters and ponds surrounding it. But I managed my way."

The blond skimmed through it quickly, "Hmm, good job, Kakashi. You may leave."

Kakashi bowed slightly and puffed outside the village.

Kakashi arrived to very beautiful place in the forest of Konoha. His shoulder was tingled by small beautiful petals. He touched a pink dogwood flower; _Did they already bloom?_ He smiled slightly. He looked ahead to find a gorgeous sea of white little daisies.

- "It's his favorite," Kakashi turned his head slightly to see a beautiful woman with auburn her. She gave him a weak smile, "the flower you're touching. It's Naoki's favorite."

- "Oh, I see," He lowered his eyes to the ground and sat down, "sorry, Keiko."

She crouched to his level, "Don't be, it's not your fault. Tell me, what's your favorite among this spacious forest?" She looked at him with gray-greenish eyes full of anticipation.

He looked at her for a while and said, "Well, I don't know." And smiled to her.

"Come on! Don't be so secretive," Keiko pouted. She continued to look at him, demanding an answer from him.

Kakashi looked ahead and sighed. "I once received a flower when I was stayed in the hospital when I was a little boy. I really liked it. It was so beautiful that whenever I visit someone at the hospital I give it to him." He picked a grass blade and handed it to her smiling.

- "What?" she looked at him ridiculously, "All I get is grass?! Thanks anyways." She elbowed him playfully in his ribs and took it from his hand. "So what's the flower? I bet it's anemone."

- "No, it's gardenia."

- "That's a good choice," He sat on the spring grass knitted with flowers of wilderness, and she followed, "but I didn't know that you're the romantic type," she teased him.

- "Me? No, no. But what make you think this way?"

She laughed, "In myths, gardenia symbolizes 'secret love'(3)," she winked him, "so speak up, who's your secret love?"

Kakashi cleared his throat, "I won't tell you."

- "Why? I told you mine!"

- "I won't cause I don't have one," he stated flatly.

She shot him a glare.

- "What? I liked it because I liked its color and petals shape, that's all."

- "Yeah, right," she mocked him and he chuckled.

- "I see you're still wearing the ANBU uniform, came from a mission?"

- "No, I've just finished my shift," She tugged a strand of auburn hair behind her ear, "What's up, Kakashi, I can't believe you did it and came early." She faked a surprised look on her face.

, "I think you came late so you thought I came early. You were late even I came before you," she punched his shoulder slightly and they chuckled.

- "No one can beat you in come-backs."

- "Yeah, that's me."

They fell in comfortable silence. This allowed Kakashi a moment to reminisce. Keiko was Kakashi's kohai in ANBU. He cared about her- though not like a big brother, but as someone he knew for a quite long time. They would meet here, in the spot they were right now every now and then, to catch up of what he missed of his old teammates.

Although he didn't open up for her, she did and told him about her first love, Naoki, who became her boyfriend since two years. He was an ANBU too, with great talent and bright future, however, a happy ending isn't likely in the ninja world. He met his end.

Kakashi sympathized with Keiko and found himself somewhat responsible to lessen Naoki's loss for her. As a ninja's way of thinking added to a man's, he thought confronting what you fear, hate or grief is the best method to get over it. He always told her 'anything that restrains your feet and brain from working, face it, or else you'll continuously be pulled and drowned in the darkest and unending will of depression.'

They ended up meeting in the place he died, defending his village.

- "Kakashi-senpai, why don't you rejoin the ANBU? You're now a specialized Jounin and that's the highest rank for ninjas. But in ANBU, it's differe-"

- "I know that, but I don't want to," he looked at her very seriously, "thanks for your concern, Keiko-chan."

He ruffled her hair, however, the auburn-haired woman pushed his hand away and protested - "Kakashi-senpai, stop messing up my hai-"

The two were alarmed by a sudden move on the trees.

- "Kakashi-senpai, I think you heard it too?"

The Jounin nodded and kept scanning the area for unusual movement.

- "Its chakra isn't stable."

- "A wounded person, maybe?"

- "Maybe, but its movement is quite swift."

The Jounin head was storming with rapid thoughts. And what made it worse, his familiarity of this chakra.

A flash passed by his right eye; automatically he threw a kunai in its direction only to pierce the thick wood of the branch.

- "Do you want to use your sharingan? It would make things easier."

- "It's definitely a wounded ninja, of high rank- a Jounin maybe," he pulled several shuriken from his pouch, "and no need for sharingan," he started off running after the intruder as it began running in full speed.

The ANBU caught up with her senpai, "What were you saying?"

- "No need for sharingan, because I can track it by its blood."

- "Oh, dog nose. But it may be a Konoha ninja, it's running towards it."

- "Maybe, but why didn't it stop when I threw my kunai?"

- "Senpai! It's slowing down."

He nodded, "Maybe due intensive bleeding. Hurry! We'll catch up to it."

Both threw a rain of kunai and shuriken at the intruder which almost was hit by them. The three parties stopped dead in their tracks. The birds' chirping was heard loudly and clearly for a couple of minutes.

- "It's a woman!" Keiko said.

Kakashi looked at his companion to move in order to circle the intruder. Both moved cautiously, waiting for any sudden move.

- "Identify yourself immediately!" the silver-haired Jounin barked sternly as they approached it.

The woman wobbled slightly as she held her stomach tightly. Despite her bad condition, she turned to face the questioning Jounin. Kakashi had to admit he was startled by her stare. He unintentionally swallowed.

He remembered this face, this shiny black hair tied in that manner. He remembered this long katana lied within unforgettable dark red sheath on her back. And most importantly, he remembered those eyes- can he even forget?

The said woman spoke weakly: "I want to see the Hokage… urgently!"

- "Answer his question first. You heard him!"

The woman wobbled again. She tried leaning on the tree log, but lost her balance.

- "She's falling! I'll get her!"

The young ANBU dashed quickly to save the now unconscious woman, only to find Kakashi already holding her in his arms. She looked at her as Kakashi checked her pulse.

- "Does she even have any blood in her?"

- "I feel a weak pulse. As you said, she lost lots of blood. She must have travelled a long way."

- "Let's take her to the hospital."

- "No, to the Fifth," Keiko raised a questioning eye brow, "She's a Jounin from Suna. She wanted to see the Fifth surely for a reason."

Kakashi adjusted her comfortably in his arms.

- "It must have been something really terrible to be in this condition," the ANBU said while taking off the woman's katana.

- "I agree," They took off heading to the village, Kakashi added, "whoever attacked her sure liked her stomach. Really"

**Dogflower meaning:** stands for love undiminished by adversity and durability.(1)

**Anemone:** plant that symbolized unfading love. It is also a symbol of luck, anticipation and protection against evil.(2)

I forgot to add the meaning of the main character, **Kimiko** (后子); a child with no equal; empress child. I do believe everyone's personality is affected by his/her name, which explains the bossy demeanour and way of behaviour.

explore/all-about-dogwood-flower

wiki/Anemone

www. /female_japanese_


	3. Reality and Defiance

I apologise for the lengthy chapter and longer update, but it's been a while since I last posted and I wanted to make it up for you enjoy! And tell me what you think, please. :D 

Chapter 3: Reality and Defiance

Heartbeats were thumping slowly as if coming to life. She couldn't see anything but darkness. She couldn't feel anything except the sound of her heartbeats. Am I dead? Is that the feeling of death? She tried to move but nothing happened. Is my brain working, or is this my subconscious mode? She tried to open her eyes but to no avail. She tried again but stopped when she registered muffled voices. Complete curiosity consumed her. Where am I? Am I in Konoha? Please, God, let me be in Konoha. She focused more on deciphering those voices and heard a few more voices. She thanked her extraordinary intelligence that she deducted there were other three people with her. Considering she was in shut down mode and came up with this kind of information that is something; they weren't lying to her back then in academy. She concentrated some more with sheer willpower to open her eyes. Finally, some brightness seeped through her foreign world. Although the voices became clearer, her view was terribly blurred.

- "Can someone…. Statistics?"

- "…. Partially…. No response…. Working on it…"

What are they talking about? Am I in critical condition? And can you stop the flashing, please?!

- "The…. Somewhat stable…"

Well, that's good news. I'm stabilizing, so I guess I might wake up soon. She darted her eyes from left to right trying to capture something useful to know her situation. Sounds of steady beeping came into her ears like sharp razors. She winced. I think I heightened my alertness too much. Blurry images started to become clearer as well and she focused some more.

- "More charges of chakara, now!" some female ordered.

Everything turned so clear that she appreciated HD televisions at that moment; they are bless to this world- what were we watching before them? She roamed with her eyes around the room only to see the typical decorating of an office. She thought about trying her voice.

- "Am I-" her voice came out raspy and rough.  
A blonde woman peered onto her vision with a flashlight again and smiled. She cleared her throat weakly and tried her voice again. "Am I at the Hokage's-sama office?"

- "Yes, dear. I'm the Fifth and here is the ANBU and the Jounin that helped you here." The recovering woman tried looking to were the Fifth motioned and saw a masked man and a girl in ANBU uniform.

- "Is she alright now, Hokage-sama?" The masked man asked.

The busty Hokage dissolved a tablet in a glass of water. "For the meanwhile, however, she needs a lot of chakra to replenish what she lost."

She turned to look back at the black-haired woman lying on a mattress on the floor. "You've lost tremendous amounts of chakra that you barely escaped death from depletion. We're glad that your major organs didn't shut down," She left the injured woman's head to drink the water. "This is a chakra tablet that is given in those rare occasions as a loading dose. You are still low on chakra. We haven't even restored half of your chakra."

Kimiko refused drinking and turned her head to the side, "I don't have time," she tried to sit up but it seemed that the shutdown mode turned to hibernate mode. Her body refused listening to her commands. She looked in the woman's eyes, who was levelling her head to drink, in pleading eyes. She gulped and said, "Please, I need… to get to my team."

Tsunade comforted her with a smile. "You can't do that in your condition, actually you yourself can't move. So drink this up." She nodded at her assuringly. Tsunade elaborated while Kimiko drank quietly, looking at Kakashi. "It's quite remarkable that she's conscious with that level of chakra and in spite of the bulk amounts of blood she lost due to wounds and internal injuries."

She looked back to Kimiko since she finished drinking and smiled at her, "It's a miracle you are here," Her eyes turned into a stern look, "Still, I want to know why you are here." She rested Kimiko's head on the pillow again.

"I see you're from Suna and Kakashi has recognised you from the chuunin exams. At least, can you tell us your name or what happened?"

Kimiko closed her eyes. "My name is Kamigaji Kimiko. I'm a special Jounin of Suna."  
Emotions surfaced in her voice as a lump formed at her throat.

- "About 20 men… ambushed my team. We were during our mission." She paused a little. "I must hurry." She struggled to get up.

- "You can't get up; you're all stitched up. Moreover, Kakashi told me that you needed to see me, of course you demanded to see me for a reason."

- "Yes. I promised them to bring help."

"So tell me, what happened?"

Dark chocolate eyes roamed to the faces of her company. A nurse continued to pump chakra into her system while everyone else was quiet wanting to hear her story.

She gulped softly, "My team of three and I were heading to the Miyoshi clan at the west border of Fire country on a mission. They took us by surprise near the north-east borders of Grass country. We fought them and stood our ground for hours. As we've suffered many casualties in order to protect the scroll- our mission, my team entrusted the mission to me no matter what the circumstances were. I travelled to the nearest allied village for days- 3 days, in a matter of fact." All ninjas looked extremely impressed and surprised for the Suna's kunoichi endurance and resolution.

Contempt dominated her soul as she remembered the last words of her teammates. They told her to complete the mission regardless the consequences; even their death. That was the way Suna ninjas are shown and trained as a way of ninja. She couldn't argue with them for the urgency of the situation, moreover; the significance of this scroll to Suna. She couldn't argue either when she saw them as she dashed towards Konoha, as they tried their best to distract as much enemies to ensure her a safe escape.

The Hokage's words brought her into reality again. "So, I understand that you ask of our help without any official document or plea. Furthermore, the status of your team is unknown- alive or not and apparently the mission is an S-class rating. But listen, dear, ninja's world is a tough one- you yourself know better than anyone, I'm afraid to say that probably we can't save your team; it's been a long time since you left them."

"And," The master medical-nin inspected her wound dressing and frowned. "You're in no condition to travel now; you need rest."

Shizune entered the room with two bags of blood in a hurry that she forgot to close the door properly, turning all heads towards her. "Hello, there. Good to see you awake." She smiled as she walked to her and replaced the empty blood bag with a new one.

Kimiko smiled politely and thanked her.

Kakashi took interest in the wooden floor as he processed the information from the fellow sensei. She seemed in a critical situation, both professional-wise and emotional-wise. Previous sentiments from his last mission as Team Minato resurfaced and felt somehow related to her. Feelings of fear, responsibility and helplessness floated up from the depths of his heart. He shuddered.

- "Hokage-sama, is it inappropriate to assign one of the emergency teams to this case? I don't mind helping too," he said with a shrug.

- "It hasn't been long time since I've last seen your face reporting in. You know the rules, Hatake; I can't send you on a mission right away. And Kamigaji-san, I need a thorough report of the ambush so I can assess this situation more." She said sternly and looked distressed as she went to her desk to grab a folder and went through some papers.

- "First," she continued, "I need to know the losses you caused to the enemy and the importance of this mission." She scanned through the folder.

- "Like I said, 20 men ambushed us. We managed to kill 7 out of them and heavily injure 6. I remember 3 suffered insignificant injuries as 1 of my team was severely injured and the rest were injured." Kimiko swallowed obviously remembering all the blood that gushed from different bodies. "We did our best surviving against 20 Jounins, many jutsu were used to counterattack them and try to immobilise as many number of them as possible. We believed we couldn't defeat them all; after all, number overcomes power." 

Kakashi shifted to make himself comfortable; he was sitting there for some while now and he needed new blood in his extremities. He listened intently as he watched blood drops drip in timely fashion in the tube attached to her wrest. The Situation seemed grave and he marvelled again how she could escape that horror.

He snapped from his reverie again as she continued her report. "Those Jounin were of Ame village, we weren't on good terms since the beginning of time even after various truces. They valued our mission as it was to decode some information of Akatsuki in the well-known clan of intelligence- the Miyoshi clan. I guess that behaviour supports the rumors that the Akatsuki base is in Ame and the village's finance and economy depend on Akatsuki's affairs."

The busy Hokage looked from her search and nodded apprehensively. She sat heavily in her comfy chair as she massaged her temples slowly. Oh how she needed a drink right now.

- "Kakashi's ANBU-friend," Tsunade ordered and the poor Keiko flinched, "Go inform Raidou and Genma to come here this minute. It's urgent. Drag them from whatever they're doing."

- "Hai! Right away!" The ANBU member saluted as Kakashi smiled slightly at her. The ANBU vanished in a puff of smoke.

- "Kakashi, I see you volunteered for this mission knowing its risks and graves. Are you still on your offer?"

- "Yes, Hokage-sama."

- "But I'm afraid I'm not sending you on this mission; Jiraya hasn't arrived from his last travel and Naruto can't be unattended to during his vacation here."

- "You're right, however I've heard from Jiraya-san the last time we had a drink together, that he improved considerably the last year. I can take him with me to watch over him and evaluate his level."

Tsunade tipped from her semi-relaxing position and looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious? Ame is behind the attack to retrieve a scroll of intel about Akatsuki and you want to take him with you?!"

"They say the best way to defend is attack. I have some seal papers given to me by Jiraya-san, they're helpful in supressing any abnormal situation concerning the Kyuubi."

The look of determination somehow convinced Tsunade despite how his words seemed insane. She evaluated his suggestion again; Kakashi is dependable and responsible of his words. Furthermore, Raidou and Genma would transfer Naruto back to the village if anything unusual occurred.

"I am sorry to tell you that maybe your team are no longer alive, but that's common sense. I need you to have some rest for a couple of days then we're moving. I need to make sure of your wounds' healing process; also, it's preferable if you regained most of your chakra. In the meanwhile, we'll be planning the directions of this mission, understood?"

"Pardon me, Hokage-sama, but I can't afford to wait for a couple of days. I guess I can move and travel again, I travelled while I'm fighting to collapse and I think I can do better as you tended to my wounds." Kimiko protested.

"No, _I think_ you are wrong and stop acting tough. There's nothing wrong of preparing ourselves. There are procedures that can't be skipped even in emergencies. You think your body can handle it because you coped through your ordeal to here? You're wrong again; your body can't perform as it had been because it adapted and programmed itself for treatment and rest, furthermore; you lost your motivation to reach your goal. Don't kid yourself, you know better than anyone that your team can't be saved."

There was a thick silence in the office that the room started to fog in Kimiko's eyes. Kakashi and Shizune were eyeing the Fifth warily; she never acted the way she did now. The nurse who was transferring chakra into the injured and now stunned kunoichi was nervously glancing repeatedly in the direction of her medical superior. The Fifth is a practical, dependable and steady but she never was inconsiderate.

Tsunade leaned onto her numerously abused desk and crossed her hands. "Look, you are making me look as the bad person here, but I can't risk losing my men in a situation that Akatsuki is involved in. And you are in no condition to fight, you're too tired to even protest right now..."

"It's not only about my team," Kimiko recovered from her shock and interrupted the Hokage. Yes, she knew that the Fifth is right, she just didn't want to admit it. She'd feel disgust and repugnance if she admitted it, not to the ones who helped her escape after all and sacrificed their lives. No, she wouldn't admit it so easily for their death. In fact, at the back of her mind she hoped some of them would cling to life as they were speaking.

"It's not only about my team. I recall I called for your assistance to help me accomplishing the mission; honouring my teammates' efforts. I believe time is a crucial factor in any strategy that would be made; they might be calling for reinforcements right now and who knows, maybe the Akatsuki might pursue this scroll." She scooted the nurse's hands gently and struggled a bit to sit up, finally succeeding without anyone's help.

Kakashi was feeling quite uneasy from the way this Kimiko was frowning at the Hokage. He himself frowned as he eyed vibrant chocolate orbs stared at hazel stubborn eyes.

Kimiko started to speak again, "Didn't it occur to your mind that the Akatsuki might wipe out the Miyoshi clan from the surface of Earth?"

The Fifth kept staring back, not wanting to lose this hidden challenge proposed from the young ninja. Who would have thought that someone who had been talking graciously and courteously would have all this defiance and arrogance conveyed just by mere stare?!

Tsunade smirked, "Okay, tomorrow is the date of your departure with a supporting team to help you accomplish your mission. However, in return, we'll have the information of what is inside the scroll."

The jet black-haired woman smiled and nodded. "Now you need to rest. We'll move you to a hotel room so you can be comfortable as you wish and we'll update you with directions to your mission tomorrow's morning.

Kimiko fought the droopiness of her eyes as she listened to the Hokage. She was dead tired that she couldn't care what would happen next. All she wanted was a comfy, warm bed and a dreamless sleep. At last, she leaned on the nurse's shoulder and slowly closed her eyes to a long, long slumber.


End file.
